Below is a good question from and advertising consultant and what follows is my response:

Good Morning Dale,car2 A Good Question from an Advertising Consultant

My name is Steve Purath and I’m a print and Cars.com executive for Gannett Wisconsin Media.  I have a franchise dealer who is asking what his search result page as a percentage of vehicle detail page is.  While I understand that this is a vital piece of information for the dealer principle, I don’t understand what’s considered a good standard of performance. Is there an industry minimum percentage that a dealer should strive to reach? For example, I did the math for my dealer and found that their store is at 2.9%. Is this percentage considered acceptable or are they at/below minimum expectations and need to make changes?  One last thought.  I reviewed a copy of your presentation, Velocity 2.0, and noticed that you are reviewing a one month snapshot.  When a dealer is looking at whether or not Cars.com is being effective for their store should we be looking at the past year for a true gauge of performance? 

Thank you in advance for your help.  I look forward to hearing your response soon. – Steve

Steve,

Thanks so much for your note and question.  I frequently say that 3% conversion of SRPs to VDPs is minimally acceptable.  Having said this however, I’ve found the minimum percentage from Cars.com to be about 1 point higher.  I believe the difference has something to do with the way that each site calculates their numbers.  Generally however, the 3% to 5% range is where I expect a dealer to be.

Regarding your question as to the proper period for evaluation, I frankly would be less concerned about what the site has done for me in the past and much more attuned to what it’s doing for me in the present.  I encourage dealers to track SRPs, VDPs and VDP percentages on a week to week basis.  If they see their numbers dropping off, that is a signal that they potentially need to make adjustments in a number of areas including pricing, inventory, pictures, descriptions and maybe even ultimately the site provider.   Does this more frequent approach make sense to you? I would be interested in your thoughts and again, thanks for reaching out.

Dale

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A Velocity dealer whom I respect very much asked me what I knew about SEM and Pay Per Click for used vehicles.  I replied by saying that I really did not know much, but we agreed to put the question here on the blog for others to comment on.  I would appreciate hearing the opinions from anyone, good or bad.  Also, what company/tools have you tried, and with what degree of success?

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Pricing to Move the Market

08.30.2010

What follows is a question about pricing in a negotiation-free environment.  I thought the response would be helpful for other dealers considering the same. Good Morning Dale, Have you ever done or heard of any studies on price elasticity as it pertains to used/pre-owned cars using the vAuto approach.  Our dealership group is a current [...]

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Are You Walking the Velocity Walk, or Just Talking the Velocity Talk?

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Here’s a question that I recently received from an intelligent dealer on the journey from traditional to Velocity Management.  I thought that my response would be relevant to the entire Velocity community. Hi Dale, Do you have any thoughts about not putting pricing on the cars that are on the lot? I price them obviously [...]

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Industry Insight Series Presented by ADESA and NADA

08.24.2010
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Something That I’d Like Every Velocity Manager to Read…

08.19.2010

Here are questions and my responses to a very thoughtful velocity operator: Dale, Good Afternoon.  You came and spoke to my NADA class last week. I just wanted to send you an email to tell you how much I enjoyed your presentation. I’m glad I got to ask you a lot of questions during our [...]

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Velocity Webinars on August 24, 2010

08.19.2010

vAuto will be conducting 2 Velocity Webinars on August 24, 2010, hosted by Tracy Noonan, Senior Director of Performance Management.  The webinars are complimentary to all vAuto users and will focus on: 1.  Understanding vAuto’s Velocity Method of Management 2.  How to use the vAuto system to maximize results/return 3.  Best practices Blacksonblondes free crop dusting [...]

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Pixel Management Webinar Presented by Dale Pollak

08.16.2010

The auto industry has recognized the used car department as the cornerstone of variable profitability.  However, there are significant challenges facing dealers today due to a more transparent, Internet-driven marketplace.  Dale Pollak, a leading used car expert and best selling author, will present Pixel Management, conditions and metrics necessary for effective used car on-line merchandising. Title:  [...]

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The Cost of Not Turning Inventory

08.04.2010

I recently received the following question; below is my response. Dale, is there a way to figure out what it costs per day to hold a unit?  I have been told there is not.  Karonel Karonel, I think there is actually a way to do it and I believe there are essentially two components.  The first being [...]

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